Smartmerge

Smartmerge is a Python library and command-line tool that can do file format-aware three way merges.

It primarily does this by detecting file formats and invoking other tools.

Currently supported file formats:

• GNU ChangeLog
• debian/changelog
• po files
• Bazaar-style NEWS files

Usage in Git

To install, simply run:

$ smartmerge --install --git

This defines smartmerge as a custom merge driver inside of git, by adding the following to your ~/.gitconfig:

[merge "smartmerge"]
  name = smartmerge
  driver = smartmerge --git %A %B %O --target=%P

It then enables the driver for relevant files by registering it for use for specific files:

debian/changelog  merge=smartmerge